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We Asked Prayer For
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2008-05-20
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Three of our Chinese staff, who will be going to Sichuan to assist in rescue and rebuilding efforts, that they would be a tremendous blessing there, and return safely to their families.
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We Praise God For
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2008-05-28
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His clear answer: None of the agencies accepting volunteers would take our staff, so none of them will be going.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2008-05-14
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A new apartment at a price we can afford. Joe & Hannah's landlord has decided to sell their apartment out from under them. So they need to find a new place to live before mid-June.
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We Praise God For
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2008-06-02
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A new apartment in the same complex, for only a little more a month.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2006-12-30
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Professor Pan, board member and pianist, whose vision is failing. He's currently evaluating laser surgery.
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We Praise God For
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2007-02-02
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A successful surgery that has restored his vision to just about normal.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2006-10-25
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Extra wisdom, creativity and grace as the team prepares for four major Christmas events, three of which fall in the same weekend!
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We Praise God For
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2007-02-02
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The more than 100 souls saved among all these events in both Shanghai and Shandong!
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We Asked Prayer For
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2006-10-25
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Guidance in evaluating a local family to join the Shanghai team in full-time service.
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We Praise God For
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2007-09-25
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The development and growth of this family. We have extended an invitation to join our staff and they have accepted.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2005-11-30
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Preparations for the largest gospel meeting we've done to date, to be held this January in a Three-Self church that can hold up to 2,000 people.
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We Praise God For
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2006-01-26
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The meeting ended up as two meetings in two different churches, each with around 400 or more people in attendance. Altogether more than forty people took Christ as their Savior, and the church leader in charge of follow-up had the first round of contact organized before the day was over.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2005-11-28
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The whole team that they would resist the spirit of division, bitterness and victimization that has crept in among them. We do believe this is of Satan, his attempt to cripple a team that was beginning to do more to win people to Christ than ever before.
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We Praise God For
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2006-12-30
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The restored relationships and renewed focus of the team. This Christmas especially showed their renewed strength and unity as they hosted or assisted in five different Christmas programs--four of which were one after another four days in a row, with an overnight trip in the middle!
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We Asked Prayer For
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2005-10-20
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The development of spiritual vision and leadership for the Shanghai leadership team during Joe's four-week absence, that the ministry would not just continue, but grow.
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We Praise God For
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2005-11-16
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The lessons learned in Joe's absence. While the ECNU ministry grew stronger, the Fudan ministry weakened, in part due to heavy challenges in the lives of some of our key people.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2005-10-20
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Joe while in Shandong, that he would be able to leave behind a confident core of trained leaders who will carry on evangelism and training others also (2 Tim 2:2).
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We Praise God For
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2005-11-16
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The nine church leaders who received further training, the vision for evangelistic meetings we could give them, and the forty-five new Christians we were able to leave with them.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2005-08-01
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Smooth preparations for and a fruitful harvest at our mid-August evangelistic meeting, the first using methods just learned at our Macau retreat.
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We Praise God For
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2005-08-17
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The seventy people who attended and the fifteen who were counseled and prayed to receive Christ!
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We Asked Prayer For
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2005-04-04
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Wise arrangements for another trip to the Northeast, where we've been invited to train more than a hundred students in the basics of the Christian life!
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We Praise God For
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2005-05-27
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The overwhelming response to this training opportunity. Several Three-Self pastors and more than seventy Three-Self church lay-leaders turned out, hungry to learn anything we could teach them.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2005-03-03
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The right place and time for a Shanghai Easter Party that the team has decided to go forward with. Time is short and venues are already hard to come by.
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We Praise God For
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2005-03-04
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The quickness with which this was answered. The very next day our team discovered just the right place at the right price!
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We Asked Prayer For
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2005-02-18
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The planning and fruitful implementation of an evangelistic Easter service at a registered church in a neighboring province--and perhaps one here in Shanghai as well!
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We Praise God For
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2005-04-10
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The twenty people who came forward to put their faith in Christ at our Shanghai Easter Party. With renewed vision and sense of responsibility, the team will work especially hard at following up every person individually.
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2005-04-27
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The successful Easter program in Anhui. The church gave our team the regular worship service, and though no one came forward to receive Christ, both our team and the church were greatly encouraged.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2005-02-02
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Wisdom in knowing whether to move the Fudan training home or stay put. There are many advantages to both possibilities, but it may finally come down to a question of expense.
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We Praise God For
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2005-03-09
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We've been led to stay put and pay the increased rent.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2005-02-02
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Silas' continued adjustment to the ministry in Shanghai. The differences between his ministry in Guangzhou and the current ministry in Shanghai have proven to be greater than any of us expected.
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We Praise God For
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2005-05-01
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All that Silas has learned here and for the help he has been to the team. We're now taking this opportunity to send him back to Guangzhou to help build up our team there.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2004-10-08
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Help for Joe to pay back his home loan quickly. In order to establish his residency in Shanghai (a much more all-encompassing affair than in the US), Joe had to borrow money from friends and family to buy a home. By God's grace and the generosity of many, he has been able to pay back half the loan, but the remaining US$5000 is proving much more difficult to repay on a US$300/month income.
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We Praise God For
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2005-01-26
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The generosity of friends, who since posting this request have helped Joe and Hannah pay back one-quarter of their remaining debt. This has been a huge encouragement to Joe and Hannah, as they have been totally overwhelmed by the love shown them in this way!
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We Asked Prayer For
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2004-10-08
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Silas' successful passing of his music certification exam at the end of October.
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We Praise God For
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2005-03-09
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Clarification regarding this exam. It wasn't just for a simple certificate, but for a degree, which required more in the way of examinations. The October exams were only two of the necessary exams, were not related to music and Silas didn't pass them. He has since decided to discontinue this program.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2004-10-08
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Help for Joe to pay back his home loan quickly. In order to establish his residency in Shanghai (a much more all-encompassing affair than in the US), Joe had to borrow money from friends and family to buy a home. By God's grace and the generosity of many, he has been able to pay back half the loan, but the remaining US$5000 is proving much more difficult to repay on a US$300/month income.
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We Praise God For
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2005-08-17
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The help Joe has continued to receive to bring his remaining debt to just inside of US$3000. There is still a long way to go, but he is paid ahead, and all who loaned him money are pleased with his progress.
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2006-01-26
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The generosity of one friend, who was moved recently to forgive Joe's entire debt to him, asking him to consider it a gift instead. That leaves Joe with only about US$2,000 to pay back.
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2006-08-01
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An unexpected gift that is more than enough to pay off Joe's entire debt!
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We Asked Prayer For
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2004-10-07
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Wisdom and guidance as Joe meets with leaders from a couple of distant Three-Self churches to assess how best to fulfill their request for training.
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We Praise God For
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2004-10-20
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The eager reception Joe received from these leaders. They were very pleased with our materials and methods, and will be looking for opportunity to send representatives to Shanghai for further training.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2004-08-16
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Hannah, whom the Lord has again allowed to become pregnant. Please pray for the safety of this child, that this pregnancy would be without incident, and that this baby would be delivered on schedule (March 22, 2005), healthy and strong.
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We Praise God For
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2005-03-17
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The safe and smooth delivery of a 5-and-a-half pound baby girl this morning. Both mother and baby are doing fine. The proud papa said he hadn't slept in more than 24 hours, so of course, everyone is exhausted--but very happy!
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We Asked Prayer For
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2004-02-29
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Philip's future direction. Though he's committed to staying with us through the end of Spring semester, it's looking more certain that he'll be moving on in other directions come Summer. Please continue praying that the Lord will clearly direct him.
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We Praise God For
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2004-05-30
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Philip's new direction. When he leaves us this Summer, he'll travel to neighboring provinces to help pastor friends train their key people in the basics of the Christian life. He will also give training in leading and developing fellowship groups. When the Fall semester begins again, he expects to be back in Shanghai, and will continue to work with us as a volunteer teacher, when he's not traveling and training elsewhere.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2004-02-11
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Philip's travel pass to Hong Kong and Macau, that he would be able to join us for our Summer retreat, and future Spring meetings.
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We Praise God For
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2004-06-13
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A definitive answer, though not the one we wanted. Philip has been refused a Hong Kong/Macau travel pass. So he will not be joining us this summer or anytime soon, until God further changes the system.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2004-02-10
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Preparations for an evangelistic Easter Party, slated for April 11.
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We Praise God For
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2004-04-13
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150 People attended and 11 of those prayed to receive Christ!
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We Asked Prayer For
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2004-02-10
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The planning and preparation for a Summer retreat for the Shanghai staff and colaborers in Hong Kong or Macau.
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We Praise God For
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2004-08-16
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Our retreat in Hong Kong was richly blessed with unity of heart and focus! We saw how Jesus took the gospel to all corners of Galilee and beyond, and we're eager to follow in His steps for the sake of Shanghai and beyond.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2004-02-01
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Hannah's complete recovery from her miscarriage in January. She still has pains and is very tired; please pray against infection or worse complications.
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We Praise God For
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2004-02-02
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Joe and Hannah went in for a check-up and amazed the doctor by Hannah's good health. Her body was completely clear of the miscarriage. Hannah took the opportunity to explain her faith to the incredulous doctor!
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We Asked Prayer For
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2004-02-01
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Wisdom as we consider adjusting Philip and Joe's responsibilities more in line with their giftings. Philip's primary gift is definitely pastoral, while Joe is incredibly gifted in management--an area in which Philip has long felt inadequate. We're now looking at adjusting their responsibilities according to their gifting. Philip would be in charge of encouraging and fostering the team's (and each member's) spiritual development, while Joe would be responsible for organizing ministry activities. Please pray with us as we consider the implications and evaluate the impact of this change on the ministry.
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We Praise God For
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2004-02-08
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Both Philip and Joe are excited to take on their new responsibilities, so we've decided to make the changes official.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2004-01-13
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The development of the Fudan ministry. Joe and Hannah will be heading that up, and they already have students on the north side of Shanghai waiting for the first Bible study. There are actually three universities surrounding their location; they're eager to start witnessing.
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We Praise God For
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2005-01-26
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The steady growth of this ministry. This semester has seen it outgrow our original ministry at ECNU. We now have new teaching-leaders developing out of this location!
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We Asked Prayer For
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2003-12-21
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The Christmas party on December 27th. The team asks specifically that: 1) the local believers would be eager to help supply the needs of the party; 2) the different elements and "players" would work well together to highlight the message; 3) distractions could be minimized when the altar call is given and when the follow-up takes place; 4) that many would be drawn to the Savior; and lastly 5) for protection as the team puts on this event--that Satan would be kept from hindering this advancement of the gospel.
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We Praise God For
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2003-12-28
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The party was a big hit with about 200 in attendance. It was the best program we've put on yet. Everything fit together beautifully--everyone was deeply touched--and at the end, 18 were counseled and prayed to receive Christ! (Additionally, about US$200 worth of gifts were given locally toward the party expenses--that alone is a big milestone in the development of our Shanghai ministry!)
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We Asked Prayer For
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2003-12-08
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Joe and Hannah's trip to Hong Kong. Joe just received his Hong Kong Travel Pass, so it looks like they will be visiting the Bemenderfers sometime around Chinese New Year. Though they talk each week by phone these days, this will be the first time Mark and Joe have met face to face. Please pray that their time in Hong Kong will be a time of encouragement, challenge and training.
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We Praise God For
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2004-01-24
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The great time we all shared in Hong Kong. We did lots of fun things, of course, and enjoyed celebrating Chinese New Year together. But best of all was how united Mark and Joe were in their hearts for the Shanghai ministry!
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We Asked Prayer For
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2003-10-19
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A suitable roommate for Philip. With Joe joining his new wife, Hannah at the Fudan Training Home, Philip is left alone at the ECNU Training Home. We're asking the Lord to send us another trainee to join Philip.
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We Praise God For
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2004-04-16
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Fellow teacher, Harry has moved in with Philip, as they both seek direction for their future. Philip has been discipling Harry for more than a year now, and they have a very strong relationship; in fact, however God leads Philip, Harry will most likely also follow.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2003-09-23
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Prepared and open hearts when TEL-Shanghai's Morning Star Gospel Choir stages their National Day outreach, singing in a local park on October 2, and looking to share Christ with interested listeners.
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We Praise God For
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2003-10-02
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One prayed to receive Christ, three more expressed interest in learning more, and many others heard the gospel.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2003-09-14
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A former local coworker whose family seems to be falling apart. Since we've known him, he's been trying to bring Biblical order to his family, but it appears he's lost hope and they may be heading for a divorce.
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We Praise God For
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2003-11-06
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Rachel was able to talk some with the wife when she went to Hannah & Joe's wedding. The wife seemed both challenged and encouraged to see where she had been failing in her responsibilities to her family.
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2003-11-23
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We just got word that the wife's willingness to acknowledge her wrong has given a glimmer of hope to the husband. They still have a long way to go to fully restore their marriage, so please keep praying for progress!
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2005-04-10
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How things seem to have stabilized. While they have yet to deal properly with their root problems, things have improved enough to encourage them to start serving the Body of Christ again.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2003-09-07
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Wisdom in how to reorganize the ECNU Bible studies to make the best use of our reduced space and man-power. The team has decided at this point to "wait-and-see" how things shape up over the next few weeks.
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We Praise God For
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2003-09-14
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By consolidating groups studying similar lessons, the team was able to fit about 30 people into the guy's training home this past Tuesday. Additionally, the four newcomers all prayed to receive Christ!
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We Asked Prayer For
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2003-08-31
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Renewed access to Shanghai's university students. Non-students haven't been allowed on campus since SARS, and that policy looks set to continue this semester.
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We Praise God For
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2003-09-07
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A student at Fudan is willing to bring us on-campus for evangelism there, but we're still waiting to see how things stand at ECNU.
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2003-10-18
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ECNU is no longer checking Student/Staff ID's for entrance to the university. So we're free to come and go as we please. Campus evangelism will begin there again next week!
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We Asked Prayer For
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2003-07-13
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The women currently in the training home, that they'd be able to find an affordable place to live, and that they'd continue working and growing in the ministry.
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We Praise God For
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2003-08-31
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They've found a place on the east side of Shanghai, which will put them out of reach of our ministry, but we trust they'll continue serving the Lord in their new location.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2003-06-25
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Hannah and Joe's marriage preparations, that obstacles would be quickly resolved in a God-honoring way so that their wedding and marriage could get underway soon, to the glory of God.
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We Praise God For
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2003-10-17
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The Lord has finally cleared the way for their wedding to take place. They'll be married November 1st!
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2003-11-01
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They're married!
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We Asked Prayer For
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2003-05-18
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Guidance in developing Flair as staff, beginning with a three-month staff-in-training period, June to August.
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We Praise God For
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2003-07-15
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The Lord has made clear the TEL is not the best fit for Flair, so we will not be bringing her on as staff.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2003-04-29
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The future of TEL-Shanghai staffing, whether Philip and Hannah (with Joe, once they marry) will remain with TEL or move to another organization.
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We Praise God For
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2003-07-01
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Joe & Hannah feel TEL-Shanghai is the best fit for their gifts, while Philip believes the Lord would have him stay with TEL until Chinese New Year 2004.
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We Asked Prayer For
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2003-04-01
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The future of the women's training home, once Hannah moves out.
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We Praise God For
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2003-07-13
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With Hannah entering into new challenges as she learns to be a wife and no other women trained to lead the training home, we've decided to shut it down at the end of September.
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